How to earn money with ‘Begpacking?’

Selling postcards, playing guitar or just sitting on a rag with a board: ”Please give me some money for my Worldtrip”. The trend ”Begpacking” becomes very popular in Southeast Asia. Some people love to do it. Others disgust it and say that it’s bad for the economic wellness of the local people. The moral answer is difficult and there are a lot of opinions about it on social media. But how can you become a ”Begpacker?”

Selling scorpions to local people

If you can’t play an instrument or make awesome photo’s to sell it as a postcard you can always play the Beg-packer who sells scorpions. First you need to catch the dangerous animal, then fry it and later hopefully some locals will buy it. They love scorpions right? I think it would be not a good idea, because most of locals don’t eat bugs and scorpions. When I ate a scorpion my local friends laughed and said nobody eats scorpion here. Only some tribes who live far from the society. It’s just a market for the tourists.

”Farang massage”

In Thailand there are a lot of local people who work very hard for their money. So it would be wonderful if some western ”Beg-packers” volunteer to give Thai people some massage. Because the local people are earning a bit money by giving cheap massage to the ”farangs”. So now is your chance to give the favour back! But remember Cheap Cheap!

Snake Charming

This one challenge is maybe more dangerous for the ”Beg-packers”. If you want to be really cool and post crazy pictures on social media than you need first to find a snake master and learn from him the crazy art of ”snake charming”. When you get the hang of it you can always go on the street with your fresh catched dangerous snake and ask for money when you try to dance with him. Would you take the risk? Because Im not.

Street Skating

If you are into skating you can earn some money by showing around your crazy skate moves. You can invest in a music box and do some moves on your skateboard. Than get some attention by the beats you skate on. This one is more safe and you don’t get fast in problems with the police. I would try this one myself if I get stranded. But be careful for other anti-begpacker travelers who want to steal your board!

What would you do if you get stranded or robbed in Asia and need to earn more money to continue your Worldtrip?

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31 thoughts on “How to earn money with ‘Begpacking?’”

Wow, I didn’t know about all these things to earn while traveling. I think if I were to get stranded, I would probably be singing on the street, since I am always a huge fan of singing, that I guess would help me to earn some money. Thank you so much for sharing about this one.

Well, this is enlightening. I saw lots of ‘beg-packers’ in California and Arizona, but I never knew that’s what they were called. I just thought they were the traveling, begging hippies that camp out in the ditch….Snake charming–ha! I never saw any of them go anywhere near that. lol

I had never heard about Begpacking until I read your post. I have to be honest the idea makes me feel pretty uncomfortable. Given that the opportunity to travel is a blessing that many in the countries you describe may never have, the whole idea of making money, or diverting money from the locals in this way does not feel quite right to me. But, I guess in a crisis perhaps some people do not have an option but to find some way to raise a little money. It is a new one on me for sure.

totally agree with Max above but I did stretch my funds too far and bartered my way home eg buy commodities that locals would want and exchange them for meals and bus tickets. That way everyone wins but it is a big compromise as you have to carry the bartering items in your back pack … so personal gear gets ditched.

What a funny post! It was absolutely amusing to read about begpacking! We are looking forward to encounter these kinds of begpackers on our travels (and hope that we’ll never have to try these 😂). We’re looking forward to reading more of your travel experiences! Marc & Tiffany

When I was in India I lost all my belongings for a while on a train. I still had my passport and money so I figured I could get by without my backpack. After a hour or so someone found my pack anyway. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost my money though. I saw some white people begging but I felt uncomfortable with the whole idea. There were so many poor people in India it didn’t seem right to go there from a rich country and beg.

Interesting to read about this, I had not heard of it until recently. While in South India I saw so many local people that had to rely on begging to get by, it would be quite different to come across Westerners who beg, never experienced this. Thanks for your visit and follow to my blog, hope to explore yours soon. 🙂

Very interesting! Thank you for the follow, too. You know, it’s as interesting to read the comments here as it is to read the blog, and that’s fine – it means you get people to think, and to respond. Best of luck with your travels!